Late Surge Lifts Buckeyes

CN staff

12/20/2006

A "name the score" kind of rout was expected by many, including probably a lot of Iowa State fans. Ohio State has more talent than some teams in the NBDL, and the Cyclones are suffering through a season of the young and the restless. But ISU played solid and gritty Greg McDermott basketball and took the Buckeyes to the brink before Ohio State pulled away late.

The final score was clearly not indicative of the closeness of the game, as
Iowa State pushed the No. 4 Buckeyes to the limit before Ohio State pulled
away down the stretch for a 75-56 victory.

Mike Taylor led the Cyclones, who put on a gritty display of basketball
in front of almost 19,000 fans at Value City Arena, with 24 points while
reigning Big 12 Player of the Week Wesley Johnson posted 10 points and 8
rebounds.

Let's face it, this was a game that most of Cyclone Nation wasn't
expecting to be too competitive considering the youth and lack of depth on the
ISU side and the pool of future NBA talent on the other. Nonetheless,
despite the score could this turn out to be a "confidence booster" for the
Cyclones?